I know that we are all in this together, and that there are many heated emotions and theories that reflect where we are at this point. I ran my last race before the “Stay at Home Order” on March 14th, it was a 7.77k put on by my favorite racing family, 3W Races – known as the Erin Go Braugh. The last time I got to hug my mom was almost four weeks ago, last time I was able to hug and hold my son, H, his wife, and grand children was about 3 weeks ago, and I haven’t seen or hugged my younger son and his wife for months since they live in Minnesota. Thank goodness for phones and snapchat!
Today is April 4th, a sunny and warm Saturday. I was laid off from my job as a veterinary technician on Sunday, March 22nd. It will be three weeks tomorrow. I understand and accept the circumstances for which I was laid off and made sure to voice my understanding to my then boss. I know how hard it is to let people go, I didn’t want to make her feel any worse than she already was, as I knew that I wasn’t the last call she had to make that morning. After we hung up, I let my husband and daughter know what was going on, and then doing the “mature“… ok, the puerile thing – I took a “Just laid off shot” of Fireball whiskey. Then I checked my email and got online to file for unemployment. I have never done this before, and I am sure that there are many in the precarious boat with me. I am taking this sudden change in my life as a chance to change directions and will come out of this better than ever, stronger, and more resilient than ever.
The following is a recap of the last few weeks:
My husband is now working from home and my daughter has started Face time piano lessons and homeschooling after being off for 2 weeks of what they called “Extended Spring Break”, which we just found out yesterday, is going to continue through the end of the school year. I started off with this real “go get ’em” attitude, my husband suggested we clean out the basement of our house, so we tackled that and managed two loads in my H3 to Goodwill and ARC – I’ll bet we are not the only family that got the Spring cleaning kick start this way, I feel like the donation drop off places will be well stocked after this pandemic is over. We then moved into our own little areas to clean, my office, daughter took to her room, husband worked on his office and I hit up my closet and bureau – two more bags of donations are ready to go. I feel like I needed this cleaning rampage as a way to control what I could in such an uncontrolled moment.
Having my office cleared out, I have space to concentrate on my blogging – which I have admittedly neglected over the last little while. I can also conduct my search for furthering my education. I have been leaning towards going back to human medicine in some sort or another. Really the only apprehension I have about going back to school is the debt, my student loans have been paid off for quite some time and I really don’t want to dig that hole again, however, an education is something that can’t be taken away.
This extrovert is considerably unenthusiastic about not getting out to see friends. I miss hugging my running friends and our silly conversations on the trails together. Watching my inbox and seeing “Race Cancelled” as the title of emails sent has been pretty disheartening. I have to admit, I am so blessed to be on a stay at home order with my husband and daughter. Even though we grow weary of each other, I still have someone to talk to, some one to cry with, some one to hug when I know that so many people out there are single and living alone. I am also grateful that I have such a great little zoo of my own – my dogs, chickens and parrot keep me busy and make sure that I am never alone. The dogs have loved running and walking with us, and I’m sure they are wondering why we are home so much – when this ends, we may have some sad puppers when we go back to work.
Yoga to calm the soul
So far in the last three weeks of social distancing, I have been out walking with my family and dogs more, we have been riding out bikes more frequently and I have started lifting small weights to try to get myself back to feeling like I can conquer the world again. My daughter and I have been practicing yoga, more as a way to gain focus, but the stretching is always welcome. We make sure to keep a 6′ distance, it’s easier out side to keep that distance outside than it is at a grocery store.
With this social distancing, my daughter has lost out on this soccer season. So many kids have lost their sports seasons, prom, outdoor education and graduation. This breaks my heart. We have been trying to keep T busy with drills and juggling, but sadly, she misses her team, and let’s face it, soccer is a team sport. And my heart really goes out to the athletes that were preparing for the 2020 Olympics, wow, that was a huge blow.
Since I was already chosen for the Chicago Marathon, October 11th I have been trying to find my mojo again – I feel like I am always misplacing that. I decided to go ahead and enter the lottery for the Marine Corps Marathon on October 25th as well. I was notified that I was chosen for that race as well! So October will be busy – but I need goals to keep pushing forward. I am praying that these two races won’t be cancelled and that this awful virus will be under more control by then.
Since I have had more time on my hands, I have found many little things that will help improve my soul. I have been reading quite a bit more. Stephen King is still my very favorite, so in the early hours of the morning, before my family wakes up and after I have fed my hens, I have candle light time with my dogs, books and a cup of coffee. I feel like the learning experience from this pandemic is immense. We were already decent at recycling and reusing things, but we have changed our ways even further. I have learned how to store fresh vegetables for longer periods of time by blanching and freezing, using cloth napkins for meal times, instead of reaching for a paper towel, a washcloth and towel that can be washed and reused, and making things from scratch instead of reaching for convenience of pre-made items. I have been practicing my culinary skills more than I was before, trying new recipes and learning how to make pasta from scratch! Look out “Little House on the Prairie” here I come!
My prayers go out to all those on the front lines of this wretched virus, the doctors, nurses, paramedics, and let’s not forget the veterinary professionals as well. They are risking exposure to take care of your pets. My heart also goes out to the families of all that this world has lost and those fighting for their lives. I pray that we will defeat this invisible monster, and come out stronger because of it.
It's Just me, V 
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